Social media video content is quickly becoming an essential asset for growing your community and sharing your brand story.
And with a growing list of video features on different platforms, there’s never been a better time to start producing high quality social media videos.
Discover our top 5 video tips to get more engagement and connect with your audience:
The Importance of Video on Social Media
Whether you’re on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn or even Pinterest, you’ll find video content becoming a bigger part of the in-app experience.
Why? Because video content is typically more attention-grabbing (and engaging) than a static photo.
And it most cases, the longer a viewer engages with a piece of content, the more likely an algorithm will boost that content to a wider audience.
This explains why videos on Instagram generate more engagement than any other content type — and tweets with video see 10x more engagement on Twitter.
There are 4 main types of video content on social media:
Stories: Stories are short-form videos that disappear after 24 hours. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn all have their own version of Stories.
Short-form video: Short form videos are popular on TikTok and Instagram Reels. These videos can be anywhere from 5 seconds to 1 minute and will typically replay automatically.
Long-form videos: These videos can be shared across Instagram via IGTV, or on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Long-form videos are typically over 1 minute long.
Live streams: Live streams are unedited videos streamed on the spot. Versions can be found on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
Including video in your social media strategy is key to creating deeper connections with your audience.
And while the video production process might seem like a huge undertaking, you don’t always need a big budget to shoot video content for your brand.
In fact, we all have a powerful video tool in the palm of our hands: our smartphones.
Plan, schedule, and auto-publish video posts to all your social platforms from the Later dashboard — for free!
Social Media Video Tips
Here are 5 helpful tips every creator or brand should consider when creating video content for social media:
Tip #1: Film High Quality Footage
With the growing popularity of video on social media, both social media users and the platforms themselves expect high quality content.
In fact, Instagram recently shared that the Instagram Reels algorithm will deprioritize blurry videos with low resolution.
The good news? You can shoot high quality content from your own home on your smartphone.
Here’s what to keep in mind when filming social media videos:
Lighting: Use a strong lighting source by filming near a bright window or picking up an affordable ring light for brighter, clearer videos.
Audio: Record in a quiet room with great acoustics. This can be achieved by having furniture and soft items in the room to absorb sound so there’s no echo.
Stability: Use a tripod, phone stand, or stack of books to ensure your footage isn’t shaky when filming your social media videos.
Smartphone: Record video content straight from your smartphone. Don’t forget to clean your lens before filming!
TIP: Need help shooting high quality videos on a DIY budget? Check out Later’s handy home video recording studio tips.
Tip #2: Start With a Strong Hook
The first few seconds of your video are crucial — if they don’t catch a user’s attention, they’ll quickly move on. The best way to grab viewers’ attention is with a strong hook.
A strong hook teases what your video is about. You can start off with an enticing question or share a major takeaway.
For example, Alisha from @thesocialimpact.au directly addresses her viewers’ pain points in the first few seconds of her Reel:
Another video with a strong hook? Crystal from @c.w.platform explains exactly what she’s covering in her Reel in this intro clip:
The most important part of your video hook is that it’s clear and concise so your audience is inclined to keep watching.
Tip #3: Create a Clear Flow
The best videos on social media have a clear introduction, middle, and end.
One of our favorite flow methods for remembering this structure is the formula of 3’s. By organizing (and limiting) your video to 3 tips or sections, you can be clear and concise.
Take @nstitched for example whose TikTok videos are compelling, easy-to-follow, and tell a story:
Neha of @neha.social also used the 3-part structure to make her tips easier to digest:
When viewers can easily follow the video, they’re more likely to join the conversation, leave a comment, or share with their followers.
Tip #4: Show Your Face on Video
Showing your face in your social media videos can be a major growth hack.
Why? It helps create more trust with your viewers — and can encourage engagement through comments, likes, and shares.
Take Golde for example. They launched their newest product on Instagram by hosting an Instagram Live session to demonstrate and answer customer questions:
Blueland is another brand that isn’t afraid to go on camera. Their CEO regularly fronts their TikTok videos to show the person behind the company:
TIP: Repurpose your video content! If you create an Instagram Reel, why not share it on TikTok? You can also do the same the other way around, but remember to remove the TikTok watermark first.
Tip #5: Add Text or Subtitles
Not only do subtitles and text make your videos more accessible for those who are Deaf or hard of hearing, they also allow viewers to engage even if their volume is off.
While some platforms like Facebook, IGTV, and YouTube generate automatic captions, other platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels require you to manually add text.
However, both apps have easy-to-use text editing tools.
Be sure to use the same font, colors, and style for each video to create cohesive branding on your social media videos.
Take @chez.jorge for example. He consistently adds text to all of his cooking videos (and uses the same font style) making it easy for his community to follow along with the recipe:
Consider adding titles and text even on videos that only have music in the background — this adds context for viewers and entices them to keep watching:
There are also a number of video editing apps that make adding subtitles a little bit easier:
Note: Instagram is rolling out a “Closed Captions” sticker for Instagram Stories, and TikTok recently introduced a similar auto-captions feature, so watch this space!
With a dynamic mix of audio and visual elements, social media video is a powerful tool for telling your brand story and offering value to your community — and all you need is a smartphone and a little patience.
By implementing these simple social media video tips, you’ll see an increase in engagement, reach, and brand awareness.
Want to easily plan your video content? Start s**cheduling videos to all platforms for free with Later!**
